The invention relates to a device to produce helical coils from a filament, preferably of plastic, comprising a rotatable and preferably smooth winding spindle and an associated filament-shaping device to wind the filament onto the winding spindle in a helical pattern, whereby the winding spindle extends—as seen along the feed direction of the filament to be wound upon it—beyond the filament-shaping device. The invention further relates to a method to produce a helical coil from a filament—preferably consisting of plastic—preferably using a device of the type mentioned above.
A device and method of this type are disclosed in DE 1 944 371, for example, whereby a plastic filament is wound onto a smooth winding spindle in order to create a helical coil. In this prior-art device, the filament-shaping device comprises a sleeve that the winding spindle passes through and that is provided with a helical groove along its inner wall, forming a so-called pitch guide tube. Arranged at the outlet of the filament-shaping device is a filament-cooling device, through which the winding spindle extends as well. Similar to the filament-shaping device, the filament-cooling device downstream thereof also comprises a pitch guide tube, in order to be able to continue to guide the filament in a helical path. The overall design of this prior-art device is quite complex, in particular due to the fact that the filament-cooling device is realized as a pitch guide tube.